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October 23, 2013

Raymond James Tops Estimates as Profits Grow 40%

The firms says its operations are being helped by improved efficiency, especially in the IT area

CEO Paul Reilly of Raymond James

Raymond James Financial (RJF) said sales for the quarter ending Sept. 30 grew 5% from last year and 1 % from the prior quarter to $1.12 billion, topping estimates.

Net income of $117.5 million, or $0.82 per share, topped last year’s results by 41% and last quarter’s by 40%.

“Results this quarter were lifted by a beneficial tax rate and better than expected results in Capital Markets and Raymond James Bank,” said CEO Paul Reilly, in a press release.

The firm’s Private Client Group revenues grew 7% from the prior year quarter to $742.5 million, but were down slightly from last quarter (when the unit had sales of $745 million.)

The unit’s pretax income, though, grew 26% from last year and 10% from the preceding quarter to $64.6 million, “as profitability benefited from continued realization of operating efficiencies, particularly related to technology expenses,” the company says.

The firm has 6,197 advisors in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, down 4 from the prior quarter and 13 from last year.

“Retention levels remain very high for the legacy Morgan Keegan financial advisors offered retention packages,” the company explained in a statement. Plus, advisor recruiting is at a “healthy” pace in both the employee and independent contractor channels.

“I am very proud of our team of associates and financial advisors for achieving record results this year, especially given the choppy economic environment and the intense work required to successfully execute the Morgan Keegan integration,” Reilly said.

The company hosted its annual Raymond James Women's Symposium this week in St. Petersburg, which was attend by nearly 200 of its female reps and 19 prospective advisors.

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